The Culver Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s.

History

The Dart Manufacturing Corporation was founded in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, by

Monocoupe Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s.Richard Harris"Monocoupe: Speed for the Common Man" ''AAHS Journal,'' Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter 2011), American Aviation Historical Society They i ...

dealer Knight K. Culver and Al Mooney to purchase the rights to the Mooney-designed Monosport G from the defunct

Lambert Aircraft Corporation Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s.Richard Harris"Monocoupe: Speed for the Common Man" ''AAHS Journal,'' Vol. 56, No. 4 (Winter 2011), American Aviation Historical Society They in ...

. The company was renamed the Culver Aircraft Company in 1939. In December 1939, Culver produced the Culver Model L, later renaming it

Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

. Production was supervised by Al's brother, Art Mooney. Having moved from Columbus to

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, after producing 50 aircraft, two retractable-gear models, the LFA and LCA, were introduced, and in 1941 the company was taken over by

Walter Beech Walter Herschel Beech (January 30, 1891 – November 29, 1950) was an American aviator and early aviation entrepreneur who co-founded the Beech Aircraft Company (now called Beechcraft) in 1932 with his wife, Olive Ann Beech, and a team of three ...

(founder of

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and Military aircraft, military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacture ...

) and Charles Yankey. The company switched to subcontract work during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Culver produced a radio-controlled pilotless aircraft based on the LFA for use as target drones. Over 3000 PQ-8/TDC and PQ-14/TD2C gunnery

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operation ...

s were produced for the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and USN.Parsch, Andreas.
Culver PQ-8/TDC Cadet
. ''designation-systems.net''. Accessed 2010-11-14.Parsch, Andreas.

. ''designation-systems.net''. Accessed 2010-11-14. T. Bowring Woodbury was promoted to president in 1945. That same year, Culver developed the

Model V The Model V was among the early electromechanical general purpose computers, designed by George Stibitz and built by Bell Telephone Laboratories, operational in 1946. Only two machines were built: first one was installed at National Advisory Co ...

. The V, also known as the M-17, featured a

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

flight control system, known as Simpli-Fly Control, which automated a number of flight functions; the system was looked down upon by pilots, and the Model V was not considered a success. The Model V was developed into the XPQ-15 drone, but did not win production orders; not very long after the end of World War II, Culver Aircraft entered bankruptcy, the Mooney brothers departing to form the

Mooney Aircraft Company The Mooney International Corporation (formerly Mooney Aviation Company, Inc. and the Mooney Aircraft Company) is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Kerrville, Texas, United States. It manufactures single-engined piston-powered general ...

and the manufacturing plant was purchased by the

Coleman Company The Coleman Company, Inc. is an American brand of outdoor recreation products, especially camping gear, now owned by Newell Brands. The company's new headquarters are in Chicago, and it has facilities in Wichita, Kansas, and in Texas. There are ...

. In 1956, the Superior Aircraft Company was established, purchasing the assets of the Culver Aircraft Company,Mondey, David. ''The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft''. New York: A&W Publications, 1978. and put the Model V back into production as the Superior Satellite.Plane & Pilot Magazine. ''The'' Plane & Pilot ''International Aircraft Directory''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995. .

Aircraft

References

External links

"Culver Model V", August 1946, Popular Science
— ''with large "pull out" color photo''. {{Culver aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States American companies established in 1939 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1939 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1946 1939 establishments in Ohio 1946 disestablishments in Kansas Defunct manufacturing companies based in Kansas Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio